Medical image display systems are used to support doctors in diagnosis and therapy, particularly in preparation for and during surgery. Medical image display systems process patient data that have been previously acquired using image detection equipment, e.g., tomographic imaging methods (CT or MR scanners) or using projection methods such as x-ray transillumination. The image data relating to the patient's body and/or additional data (e.g., data for treatment planning) are conventionally made accessible to doctors and treatment staff with the aid of screen displays.
A system using a screen display, for example, is known from DE 19 639 615 C2. Such screen displays, however, are disadvantageous in that the relatively large screen is provided statically, such that the doctor must continuously look up from his work area toward the screen in order to read the information on the monitor. In other cases, the monitor is fixed to relatively complicated joint arms to enable movement of the monitor into the vicinity of the surgeon's field of vision. Such constructions, however, are expensive and often the monitor itself becomes an obstruction.
Projection is another method of medical image display. Projection systems for patient or surgery planning data are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,715,836; 6,317,616; and 6,314,311. In these systems, however, complicated projection devices are used that are not always appropriate or cannot be realized without significant additional expense.